L.E.N.S. challenge

I'm joining in the L.E.N.S challenge this week over at the Home Is Where You Start From blog! I just heard about it, but I have a good picture for their theme, which is bokeh. In layman terms, that  means blurry background. :)

This is the birthday cake that I made for Andrew this week. Honestly, I chose to take the picture of this view because the lettering turned out pretty awful. But we won't talk about that! We'll simply enjoy the colorful candles, with much bokeh in the background.

Be sure to hop on over and check out the other entries. And if you'd like to learn more about bokeh, click here.

(Click to enlarge)

photo shoot

I am finally done with the pictures from the photo shoot with my sister-in-law and her girls. So I thought I'd share a few of my very favorite ones. If I shared them all, we'd be here until midnight tonight. I'm no professional, but it was fun to experiment and, well ... act like I was professional!

I was able to give the pictures to my sister-in-law for her birthday last night, along with a book on quilting. We plan to start having one sewing day a week, where her and I, plus my mom-in-law get together and act like we're professional seamstresses.

And yes, I like to pretend. A lot.

"You're so funny, mom!!"

"Come a lil' closer and I'll sock ya' one!"

Time out? Just kidding ...

The shadows make this a bad picture, but I love it anyway.

I love me some baby toes!

She's so proud of her new braces. I think she looks terrifical.

Sister time ...

The next two pics really show their personalities. Different, but oh so special! ;)

And last, but not least .... I laugh every time I see this!

I hope these at least made you smile today!!!

Near The Cross

Church attendance was down this last Sunday night, and as a result, our little group sang with the accompinament of a single guitar. Everyone's voices were a little bit hushed because of shyness, making the atmosphere akin to singing around a bonfire.

One of the songs we sang was Near The Cross, by Fanny Crosby. It's an old hymn that we all could have sung by heart. But it reached the depths of our souls. Well, it reached the depths of my soul. I can't speak for the others.

So I've been meditating on the words this week, and I thought perhaps you would like to join me ... a pilgrim whose heart is prone to wander away from the Cross.

Near the Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain,
Free to all a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Refrain:

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Til my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting, ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

Refrain:

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Til my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Until rest beyond the river comes, may we ever rest ever near the cross, where hope and strength for our weary, wandering souls await.

God bless all of you.

review: what's in the bible?

The creator of Veggie Tales, Phil Vischer, has produced yet another engaging, stimulating, and of course, humorous DVD series entitled What's In The Bible. This DVD series, doesn't resemble Veggie Tales visually, but the humor laced throughout is similar. Phil Vischer does a tremendous job of engaging little ones to find out what's in the Bible. Adorable puppets ask a lot of questions, some of which can be rather complicated. But Phil Vischer is able to bring those hard questions down to a child's level to make it entertaining and understandable. He covers a realm of subjects, such as the meaning of "holy," what the pentateuch is, and why we no longer encounter the harsh punishments of the Old Testament Law.

Anybody that can make Leviticus and Deuteronomy interesting to little kids definitely has talent, and I appreciate his ministry to little souls who can tend to develop their own false ideas about Bible facts and concepts. Phil uses puppets and even a few crazy singers dressed up in 70's style clothing singing silly songs to aid in remembering what was previously covered in the puppet skits.

I have older children, so I won't be using this in my homeschool curriculum. However, What's In The Bible would make a great supplemental material for any Bible curriculum. 

There was nothing in these videos that I strongly disliked. Buck Denver, The Sunday School Lady, and others were very likable. But I did wonder why the Pastor wore a priest's clerical collar, and the dudes in the 70's getup were a little bit too corny for my liking. The songs they sang were adorable and funny, but there mannerisms and clothing didn't seem to really fit the rest of the theme. 

All in all a great DVD set! 

If you'd like more information about What's In The Bible, click here.

Bio (taken from http://www.wikepedia.org/)

Phil Vischer (born June 16, 1966) is a writer, actor, puppeteer, animator and founder of Big Idea Productions with Mike Nawrocki. Although best known for founding Big Idea Productions and VeggieTales, he is also a puppeteer and creator of the popular puppet web series, The Jelly News, which is produced from his new creative shop, Jellyfish Labs, located in Wheaton, Illinois.

Vischer's most notable puppet character is Buck Denver, anchor of The Jelly News, but he also performs Captain Pete, Helen Rosenfiddle, Kid on the Street, and he voices almost every other character that appears in the broadcast.

He is also the founder and creator of JellyTelly, a faith-based website network developed by Jellyfish.

*I received a review copy of the first three DVD's in this series from Tyndale House Publishers.

shameless self promotion

I thought about simply reposting this post here, but why not shamelessly promote my other blog? Oh, stop whining. It's only one little click. So click here or up above, and come read a funny post. You know you need a laugh today.

Oh, and if you want two laughs, click here too.

How 'bout you? Got any shameless self promotion you'd like to do? Feel free to leave a comment and a link, and I'll be sure to visit!

Enjoy!!

simple woman's daybook

Please hop on over to The Simple Woman's Daybook site if you'd like to participate. C'mon! It's fun!

Outside My Window... It doesn't seem like Summer today with a high of 68, clouds, wind, and rain. But it's a nice break from the hot weather. I'll always like hot weather best, but I like variety too. :)


I Am Wearing... Blue shorts with a white t-shirt. Ok, I lied. Pink fuzzy robe. Again.


I Am Thinking About... Learning how to let God be God, and believing His promises over what my feelings might tell me.


I Am Thankful For... People with a lot of wisdom who are willing to share it.



I Am Praying For... My kids.


Pondering These Words... Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him; ... Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance. ~Job 13:15-16


I Am Noticing... Life is short, and I wish we could all know at the beginning what we will know at the end.


I Am Reading... The Disciplines of Grace, by Jerry Bridges, and A Lifetime of Wisdom, Emabracing the Way God Heals You, by Joni Eareckson Tada


From The Kitchen... I'm making a boat load of storage food today for Shaun's lunches. He says Chef Boyardee is no chef at all. I am taking pity on him and freezing batches of stews and chile, etc.


I Am Creating... A quilt (all I need to do is put the binding on), and an embroidery project. It's technically a bread cloth, but I'm thinking I might use it to set a vase of flowers on.


I Am Going... No further than my front door today. Yay!


I Am Hoping... For Peace.


I Am Hearing... Nothing but the hum of the AC, and a few birds chiriping in the background.


Around The House... Laundry!



One Of My Favorite Things... Giving Gifts. I believe in Christmas in July!


A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... It'll be a quiet week, except for Friday when we go see a Rockies game. Wooohooooo!!! I can't wait! Shhhh! Don't tell Andrew. It's for his birthday. He's turning 14 next Monday. Anybody see that amazing comeback last night? Nine points scored in the ninth inning! Rockies won it 12-9! Ahem ... Dear Rockies, please play like that Friday night. Oh, and please hit lots of fly balls just to right field, bottom deck, where we'll be sitting. Andrew's bringing his glove, and it's his birthday and all. So please just gently pop a ball in our direction. Thanks.


Here Is A Picture Thought I'm Sharing... This is Gracelyn, a picture from the shoot I did with my nieces. I love the look of sheer joy on her face. I'm not sure what she was so thrilled about, but it makes me smile in return everytime I look at it. I hope it made you smile too. :)

my 4th of july weekend

As I sit and write, I feel like my whole body is saying, "Wheeeewwww!"

I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I guess 4th of July weekends do that to a girl. We had a good weekend, even though much of it didn't go accordinng to plan. The rain certainly put a damper on things. I can't remember when the last time it rained on the 4th! It's usually blistering hot, with no merciful clouds in sight.

This year, as we were out on the prairie, attempting to have a picnic and get in some shooting time, it started to sprinkle.

No big deal. We read the weather report before we went. It said 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms.

I think they meant to say 95% chance of solid downpour with clouds that scream "Run for your life! A tornado is coming!"

We sat in the car and watched it sprinkle for about forty five minutes, while listening to the Rockies win a baseball game in what I believe was the 14th inning, and the longest game in the history of Coors Field Stadium.

Then the rain began to come down a little harder. We looked to the heavens and noticed the seemingly harmless clouds had taken on a mind of their own and evolved into one big, dark rain cloud, hovering over our honey tree picnic.

"That doesn't look good," I said to Shaun as he took a bite of his hot dog.

"No it doesn't" he agreed.

Without saying much more, we loaded up the targets, grill, food, etc. and hightailed it out of there like this mama cow decided to follow through on her threat to kill me if I came any closer to her baby:

However, we did get in a few good target practice sessions. And we left with our bellies full. Nevermind the heartburn that followed due to eating greasy bratwursts and running from the cloud of doom simultaneously.

A few pics of the whole weekend:

We were bombed. ;)

This one reminds me of rain and palm trees!!

Old Glory!! The next four pics are our view before the fireworks started. I know ... it's a tough, being out here where scenery is scarce. ;)

What Jessie does when she sees a bumble bee ....

Shooting on the prairie

Hope you had a great weekend celebrating the birth of our country. It would be easy to lament about how much freedom has been taken away from us up to this point. But choosing to focus on how much we as a country are blessed with, even in these tumultuous times, produces a happier, thankful heart.

God bless America, land that I love!